South African Lab Identifies Hantavirus on Dutch Cruise Ship
South African researchers confirmed hantavirus infection in passengers aboard the MV Hondius after an elderly British man was hospitalized in Johannesburg. The Andes strain was identified within 24 hours through rapid testing and international consultation.
The IndependentSouth African infectious disease specialist Lucille Blumberg received an urgent email on May 1 about a passenger evacuated from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius and admitted to a Johannesburg hospital with suspected pneumonia. Blumberg and colleagues at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases initially tested for Legionella and influenza, both common on cruise ships.
All results were negative.
The team then considered the ship's route from Argentina and passengers' exposure to rodents in South America, prompting tests for hantavirus. Blumberg contacted the single South African laboratory equipped for hantavirus testing. Results on the British man's blood samples returned positive for the Andes strain that afternoon.
A second round of tests confirmed the finding. The same strain was later identified in a Dutch woman who had died after disembarking the ship.
The World Health Organization used the results to notify the cruise line of the outbreak. The ship reached Rotterdam, where it was disinfected and remaining crew members left the vessel. The British patient is reported to be improving. The South African health ministry has not released further case counts.
